Brave widow who lost husband to sudden cardiac arrest set to take on Cardiff Half Marathon
29 September 2023
The family and friends of a “selfless” police officer who died following a sudden cardiac arrest in his sleep are set to take part in the Cardiff Half Marathon to support research into the condition.
Greg Lloyd (pictured far right), 51, was placed in an induced coma at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff following the cardiac arrest but tragically passed away in August 2022.
His wife, Louise Lloyd (second from left), has pledged to run the half marathon in Greg’s honour with her children Rhys, 23, and Sophie, 21, along with around 120 family members, friends and colleagues from across south Wales. The group are all raising funds to support research at UHW.
“Greg was sent to the critical care ward in the hospital and placed in an induced coma,” explained Louise. “He’d had a heart attack followed by a cardiac arrest in his sleep and suffered from brain damage due to a lack of oxygen. The hospital staff tried their best but there wasn't anything they could do.”
Louise said that Greg had been active and lived a healthy life. A keen runner, he had previously completed the Cardiff Half Marathon three times.
Their fundraising effort will allow experts at UHW to carry out a new research project into treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OOHCA). It is hoped these studies will provide more answers into how best to treat patients who have had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to improve their chances of having a positive outcome.
Louise added: “This is one of the things that we, as the family and friends of Greg, can do to honour him. He was a selfless person and would always be willing to help others. If the research helps one family in the future, it will be worth it.”
According to the British Heart Foundation, less than one in 10 people in the UK who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survive.
Professor Matt Wise, Associate Medical Director for Research and Development at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, and Chief Investigator of the UK critical care sites for several landmark trials for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, said: “After the successful completion of three critical care trials into out-of-hospital cardiac arrest supported by Health and Care Research Wales, our team will use the money which has been fundraised to help conduct the fourth trial STEPCARE this year to continue the search for new interventions that will improve patient outcomes.”
Jade Cole, Critical Care Research and Development Lead at University Hospital of Wales said: “Any donation in honour of Greg would be put to very good use for research into the treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest that could help others in the future.”
You can support Louise and her team of runners this October by visiting their page. To keep up with the latest updates in research in Wales, sign up for weekly bulletin.